Getting to this one quite late, and I think people have said most everything. I too enjoyed the presence of song, and feel Tolkien would at least approve the principle.
Watching with subtitles, the Orcs were apparently yelling something like "Narmat!" as they marched out. It certainly looked like Quenya, but... wouldn't that be a dual noun? A bit odd.
Okay, the Mithril Fable. Definitely nonsense, but in fairness to the Elves, a) one Silmaril is literally a star now, and b) they
don't know what happened to the others. How could they? Maedhros and Maglor nicked them and ran off and never came back. There's probably all sorts of legends about them. Per Tolkien's later thoughts, the Numenoreans said the boys destroyed them and essentially themselves, but what do the Elves think? Who knows.
So I'm assuming the story is just that: a story. Any vaguely shiny rock from the Misty Mountains would fit it. Jewels, ore, volcanic glass, even a river (the Silverlode, for instance). If we need an explanation for where the legend came from, water might fit - Mirrormere, perhaps, reflecting the Evening Star. It doesn't have to be true.
So why do the Elves need it? I mean, we actually don't know if they do! Gil-Galad just thinks they do, and has a dying tree to prove it. Which... dying trees being Meaningful is a bit of a thing in Middle-earth, right? I can see how The Tree of Lindon dying could bode ill for the Noldor, and they would want Light to restore it.
I think Celebrimbor was just being mystical about what they actually need. The whole smothering everyone in light metaphor is all very well, but in practical terms I reckon he's talking about arms and armour that the Dark cannot overcome. Maybe rings later, but the direct "light of Silmaril = elves get better" thing is just poetry.
Also, hahahaha the Silmaril's in a tree that's
ridiculous.
hS
hS